ASBK The Bend | Final Qualifying Wrap

Wayne Maxwell underlines Bend pace in QP2

Rain overnight saw 300 Supersport riders greeted with a drying track for their final qualifying session. The top five qualifiers from Friday did not even turn a wheel in Q2 this morning at The Bend.

The situation started out much the same for the 600 Supersport competitors but the track did dry enough for Max Croker to improve on the Q1 time he set on Friday. The Suzuki rider moved one place further up the grid to sixth after pushing Scarcella off the second row.

Max Croker - TBG Image — Max Croker – TBG Image

However, the track was almost 100 per cent dry when the men of ASBK Superbike hit the circuit for their final 30-minute qualifying session at 0940 this morning.

Josh Waters was the first rider in the top ten to make progress from Friday. The Suzuki man lopping a fraction off his Friday time. Still, that showed the others that improvement certainly is possible in the track conditions presented them to this morning after those early morning rain showers.

Waters’ young teammate Mark Chiodo was the next to better his Q1 time, moving forward from 11th to ninth on combined standings with a 1m54.435.

Then Bam! With four-minutes remaining provisional pole sitter Wayne Maxwell underlined that pole position with a 1m52.175. He backed that up with a 1m53.321, a lap that was actually quicker than his pole lap for the first couple of splits, but the YRT man lost a little time in the latter half of the lap and failed to improve further.

Wayne Maxwell - TBG Image — Wayne Maxwell – TBG Image

Troy Herfoss was circulating slowly looking for a clear track while Troy Bayliss exited pitlane for one last crack.

Herfoss failed to find that clear track and had to abort his run at pole. The Penrite Honda man shaking his head violently at the lost opportunity, then lining up a run to the line to start one more go, but failed to make the chequered flag by a matter of seconds, thus that final effort did not materialise and he would not improve on his Q1 pace.

The Bayliss challenge in Q2 also failed to materialise in those late stages and he ended up having to rely on his Q1 time.

Troy Bayliss - TBG Image — Troy Bayliss – TBG Image

Likewise Daniel Falzon, Bryan Staring, Alex Phillis and Glenn Allerton all rested on their Q1 markers.

Jamie Stauffer was the biggest improver this morning. The Kurri Kurri veterain pushed the Racer’s Edge backed Ducati from 14th on the grid right up to the second row! Massive steps forward for Stauffer who will now start this afternoon from sixth place on the grid.